A vibration-damped hand-held rivet bucking tool currently exists in the art, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,381. In this design, a vibration exposed inertia member is telescopically received by a cup-shaped grip element so as to allow axial reciprocal movement of the inertia member in relation to the grip element during use of the tool. Between the grip element and the inertia member there is provided a vibration damping system having two springs which are pre-tensioned between the grip element and the inertia member in opposite directions to obtain a balanced neutral position therebetween. When the relative position between these two elements is changed due to vibration forces, the springs act to regain the neutral position. The grip element and the inertia member have circular cross sections and are rotationally interlocked by a key.
This design presents certain drawbacks, however. First, the use of two counteracting springs results in a large number of components which must be manufactured with tight tolerances. Second, a central rod is used to hold the various components together internally, and this central rod is secured to the grip element by means of a screw, precluding straight-forward replacement or swapping of the rivet engaging implement formed on one end of the inertia member. If one or more of the springs could be replaced by an improved energy dissipation system, a simpler design should result and, at the same time, facilitate a quick-change of the rivet engaging implement or "dolly."